Outer Zone
by Lt. Joker
Summary: The story of Dorthy, Toto, the Scarecrow, Tin man, and Cowardly Lion with a futuristic horror twist.
1. Chapter 1

Steam rose from a circular tube that rested within a rusted mechanical device with buttons and a few monitors attached. The frost on the tube slowly started to vanish, and soon a female figure could be seen within the tube against a soft material. She was wearing black panties and a black tank-top, her orange hair was just below her shoulders and her face was soft and heart-shaped. She began to stir, and her eyes slowly opened, revealing her soft, green eyes. The door to the glass tube hissed, and popped open, the tube rising up to let the girl out. Stumbling out of the tube, the girl looked around her, seeing nothing but rusted, ripped industrial steel, cracked or static monitors, and several more glass tubes similar to the one she just stumbled out of, yet the others where cracked or broken.

Walking forward, the girl moved to the only computer station with a normal screen and sat in the steel chair, her body still stiff from being frozen. Looking at the screen, she began to read the document on the screen. "Project DORTHY: Unfrozen and Active. Beginning scenario: TORNADO in 10 minutes. Activate drone TOTO." Unsure of what she just read, the girl had a creeping feeling, and she turned in her chair and looked around the room, finding the door. Walking over to the door, the girl slightly jumped when it slowly slid open, the squealing sound of metal scraping against metal, before she even touched the door. Moving on, the girl soon found herself lost in the dilapidated steel hallways, darkness consuming every direction, no clue where she was or how she got here.

A sharp bark echoed throughout the hallways, causing the girl to jump where she stood, and the girl soon had a guess of the direction in which the bark came from. She started toward the direction of where she thought the bark came from, and another, louder bark confirmed that the way she was going was the correct way, and she began to move faster. She passed several doors that seemed to of been ripped apart with something sharp, for there where several puncture holes as well as a few splatters of a crimson color. Within a minute, the girl came to a large room filled with more computer monitors, rusted and broken tables, and equipment ranging from weapons to clothes, some in tubes while others where thrown about. A screen flashed, the image scrambled to the point that the only thing visible was a shape of a person. "Morning DORTHY, I hope you slept well." The figure said.

"Where am I?" The girl asked, looking at the figure.

"You're on the satellite Kansas in orbit around of a planet in the Outer Zone." The figure answered with a happy tone.

"Kansas… in the Outer Zone…" The girl repeated, rubbing her head.

"Yes DORTHY… You're in Kansas right now… but you need to get to your house before the storm hits…" The figure said.

"My name isn't Dorthy… its… its… its… Angel…" Angel said, rubbing her head more, feeling a headache starting.

"NO! You're my DORTHY! I MADE YOU! YOU ARE MY DORTHY!!" The figure shouted, the satellite beginning to shake, and the image vanished. Red lights began to flash on and off and a robotic voice began to echo throughout the ship.

"Electrical storm in coming! Danger! The Satellite Kansas is on a direct course to intersect with the Electrical storm. It is advised that all crew members evacuate within the next 5 minutes."

Angel looked around her, unsure of what to do at the moment. A metallic clanking could be heard, clank clank clank clank. Turning around, Angel looked to see a small, mechanical creature walk into the room. It was a small robot that had the frame of a dog, with silver coloring and red, glowing eyes. The machine walked forward, its head low and the jointed tail pointing down, moving very little. A robotic growl seemed to rise from the robot's throat as it approached Angel. Looking closer, Angel was able to see crimson stains on the body of the robot, on its jaws, claws and tail. Angel backed away as the mechanical canine moved closer, the growl getting more intense, the tail lifting up and pointing at the girl. While she was backing up, her hand brushed against a few buttons on the keyboard, bringing up an image on the monitor.

"All robots on the satellite have contracted a virus… we don't know how or when, but yesterday the attack started. We had just received the Project capsule as we agreed, but the drones started to malfunction. At first, it was a simple voice recognition problem, but soon it led to violent outbursts, and the first life was taken. We decided to shut down the drones, and most did shut down… but the drone TOTO would not follow orders, and began to lash out. Within an hour, 20 of the 40 members on the satellite where killed, many of them while they where sleeping in the cryotubes. We where able to save the woman and children, sending them down to the planet below in the house capsules. Me, Jack, Kyle, Doug, and Kevin decided to try and take down TOTO, and we have decided to take our last stand here. I just wish I could of saved my child… if we fail… I'm sorry Angel… I'm sorry…"

With that, the screen went blank, and the red flashing lights turned off, the only light was the red eyes on the machine. Angel could only watch as the two red orbs came closer to her, her back now against the wall. Her heart was beating hard in her chest, her breathing was short and strained. "Please… please… stop… TOTO?" She questioned. The red eyes stopped, but then continued toward her, the metallic jaws could now be seen in the faint red light. "TOTO… Sit." Angel said, and she felt a bit of relief as the red eyes turned to a soft blue color, and the eyes seemed to rise up and the sound of metal hitting metal hard resounded, followed by the sound of metal scraping quickly. Soft, white lights came on, and Angel started at the robotic dog, it's tail wagging and a metal tongue hanging out of its mouth.

Relieved, Angel slid to the ground, tears falling from her eyes as she struggled to regain herself. The machine walked over and licked the girl's cheek and looked at her with a stupid expression. Angel let out a soft laugh and petting the head of the machine and her head dropped low as she whipped the tears from her face. The lights flashed again, showing that another minute had passed, and TOTO whined, nudging the girl's arm. "Alright… I need some clothes… and I might need a weapon…" She said, once more petting the machine. She stood up, shakily at first, but she soon was walking find, slipping into a pair of black pants, to large for her but it was the only thing there that was in one piece. Picking up a pistol, Angel looked into it, seeing 10 bullets, and after a brief search, she found 10 more in a case. Pocketing the bullets and gun, Angel looked at TOTO and said, "Can you lead me to the House capsules?"

The doggy drone nodded, and started out of the room, stopping only once to make sure that Angel was following. After making sure she was, he once more moved, the sounds of his paws hitting the floor was deafening in the silence of the station. Soon, TOTO stopped and motioned toward a doorway to a large hanger in which there where several circular doors that led to the House capsules. Angel and TOTO moved along the now empty capsule doors, trying to find one that still remained. Eventually, the two found one of the House Capsules that had yet been launched, but the door was damaged. "50 seconds to impact with the Electrical storm. 49 48 47 46 45…"

"TOTO! Open these doors!" Angel said, her heartbeat once more filling her eardrums. The mechanical canine moved to the doors and its tail slid into a small hole. A few beeps where heard, and the doors started to open, but sparks rose from the top and bottom of the doors, and it stopped opening. "TOTO!" Angel said, the countdown now down to 29 seconds. The tail slid out, and the robot hopped up and with its jaw and claws, peeled away one of the doors, just enough for Angel to slide into and the dog followed. Getting in, TOTO ran to the front of the House Capsule and his tail once more slid into another small hole. The House Capsules door closed and it started its warm up sequence while the count down continued. 15 seconds, the first engine ready. 13 seconds, the second engine ready. 11 seconds, the third engine and last engine ready.

10 seconds, and the location for the landing was getting set. 8 seconds and the locks for the House Capsule started to disconnect. 4 seconds, the House Capsule starts to slide out. 3 seconds and the Capsule is halfway out. 2 seconds and the rockets start to fire. 1 second, and the capsule bursts from the satellite. 0 seconds, and the satellite was swallowed by the storm. A bolt of lighting struck the House Capsule, and it started to spin, forcing Angel and TOTO onto the ground, pressed against the wall as they could only wait for the ride to be over. Every other second, when she chose to open her eyes, she would be able to see the planet slowly grow bigger, the green and gray planet getting closer.


	2. Chapter 2

Soft barking started to echo throughout her head, the darkness of the inside of her eyelids spinning. The barking gradually got louder, louder to the point that she had to open her eyes to figure out what was wrong. Looking around, Angel could barely see where she was, the lights of the Capsule House flickering on and off. Blue, luminescent eyes could be seen, and the robotics hound's tongue once more met the girl's face with a bit of worry. "TOTO... Back off, I'm awake… where are we?" She asked, looking around. The events before she blacked out came back to her slowly, and standing up, Angel looked toward the doors of the House Capsule. "Come on TOTO, let's see where we are…" Angel said, walking to the doorway and pressing a small glowing button.

The doors slid open, and Angel was greeted with what seemed like a small city area, single story stores placed in a circle with a few roads away from where she currently stood. The buildings had a certain sense of age to them, as if they had not been used or simply ignored for many years. Walking out of the capsule, Angel turned and looked at the wreaked vehicle that she rode down in, surprised that it still was intact, but glad at that fact. Murmurings from within the buildings, hidden in the shadows, caused Angel to back away a bit toward the Capsule House. "W-Who's there?" Angel called out, looking around. More murmurs, and a soft chuckling caused TOTO to move into a defensive position, the robot hound's eyes turning red once more.

"Don't be afraid, they are simply surprised by your appearance…" A voice said from right. Angel turned quickly, the pistol she found in her hand and pointing over toward the owner of the voice. The owner of the voice seemed to shine with the color pink, her clothes consisting of a pink, form fitting evening dress that fit to her hour glass form. Long, pink hair flowed down the figure's head, down her neck, and to the middle of her back. The woman wore pink high heels, elbow length pink gloves, a small, pink crown, and to top it off she held a small, thin piece of pink wood.

"And Who are you?" Angel asked, aiming at the woman. Something about the woman seemed odd to Angel, and TOTO seemed to agree.

"I am considered to be a good witch by the residents of this land… my name is Linda of the North." The pink woman said, bowing ever so slightly. "And who are you?"

"My name is Angel… A good witch?" Angel questioned.

"I am actually an AI program who was created to help anyone who might need help." Linda said, smiling. "And thanks to the world wide holographic core, I can appear anywhere to someone who might need help."

"An AI witch… What do you want? Where am I?" Angel questioned, the pistol now aimed at the ground.

"We are in The Orphanage. And I came to ask if you are a good witch or a bad witch." Linda said, moving around Angel, a holographic hand tracing along the girl's shoulders.

"I'm not a witch… why would you want to know that?" Angel asked, slightly shivering at the touch

"Well… because you killed the Witch of the East." The AI said, pointing over to where the Capsule house landed. Taking a good look, Angel noticed a charred hand to the side of the capsule house, and she put her hand to her mouth.

"I-I didn't mean to…" Angel said, tears starting to stream down her cheeks.

"Don't feel bad Angel… it's alright… you probably saved the lives of many of these orphans." Linda said, sliding her arm around Angel's shoulder. TOTO let out a small growl, but the mechanical canine was defeated, it knew it, the red turning to blue again. "It's alright Orphans… you can come out now." More murmuring now, and several dark shapes came out from the stores, behind buildings, and even out of the bushes. Young Orphans, several of them wearing nothing more then dirty, dark tan pants, ripped in several places. A few of the older looking Orphans wore more clothes, and some even wore extra layers, as if to show their dominance over the younger Orphans.

One of these layered clothing Orphans approached Linda and Angel, and bowed at his waist. "From the land of the Orphans, I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for ridding us of that evil Woman… she had come here to take a few more of our village for her evil experiments." He said, shaggy, brown hair falling in front of his face. Standing back up, the Orphan looked between Angel and Linda.

"This is Othello, leader of the Orphans." Linda said, introducing Angel to the person.

"We will have a feast… for this is a joyous occasion indeed." Othello said, turning to the rest of the Orphans. A great cheer rose from several tiny bodies, and several of the Orphans ran off to prepare. Angel calmed down a bit, and took in Othello's appearance; dirty pants was similar, but he also wore an off white shirt with a large, long sleeved black shirt placed onto his shoulders with a stained violet tie placed around his neck as if it was a shall. "Come! I shall bring you to the Hall of Feasts!" Othello said, bowing slightly and motioning for Angel to follow.

Screams of horror and pain rang out from a group of Orphans, and several of the Orphans fell to the ground, fresh wounds on their bodies. Another figure emerged, seeming to glow with a dark green color; a black overcoat with greenish under-tones covered the body, a black hat with similar under-tones sat on the head, green hair sprawling down the shoulders and back. "Welcome to the Outer Zone DORTHY, I see you met Linda… wait… where is my Sister?" The figure questioned, her face searching back and forth.

"She was killed by the one you call DORTHY, much to the happiness of the Orphans." Linda said defiantly.

"Who is that?" Angel asked, backing away slightly.

"That's the Wicked Witch of the West." Linda whispered to Angel.

"What? My sister killed by this girl, how was that?" The Witch asked, in a proud unbelieving voice.

"Your sister was crushed by the capsule house… you can see the crimson nano-tech on what remains of her arm." Linda said, pointing over to the charred arm. The proud smile on the Wicked Witch's face slowly vanished, replaced with an angry scowl.

"You! DORTHY! After I revived you… you kill my sister… you will pay…" The Wicked Witch said, her body glowing more, dark green energy swirling, what little lights in the area flickering. But her face turned into a wicked smile, and she turned back to the charred flesh. "The crimson nano-tech… it still should be active… that power…" The Wicked Witch said, seemed to hover over toward the body. With a glow of crimson light, the nano-tech that could be seen before had vanished. "What?"

"That nano-tech will not be yours, you already have two different nano-tech… the Crimson will not be added to the Lime nano-tech of my late sister, and your evil black nano-tech." Linda said, walking forward with an air of defiance once more.

"What did you do to it? You are not compatible with it?" The Wicked Witch said, turning an evil hand at Linda.

"She will now have the power of the Crimson nano-tech." Linda said, smiling as she pointed at Angel. Angel looked at the Wicked Witch, and then at Linda, but a soft prick of pain caused her to look down at her arms. Fear was apparent as the crimson color slowly spread over her body, small drops of blood dripping from several of the crimson lines appearing on her flesh. Pain racked her body as she fell to her knees, and TOTO walked over and whimpered, worried for her.

"If it doesn't kill her… then I will." The Wicked Witch said, and her body flickered and she vanished. Several of the Orphans ran to the prone body of Angel, sweat beads forming on her forehead, several crimson lines on her body glowing slightly.

"Angel? Angel? Are you ok?" Linda's voice seemed to be a distant echo in her ears.

"Hurry! You three get her to the Church… we can treat her there…" The voice of Othello barely reached her. Once more, the world around Angel seemed to slowly go dark, the pain causing shadows to slowly creep into her vision until nothingness remained.


End file.
